With the Armed Forces laying a great deal of emphasis on self-reliance and local production of weapons and equipment, the Army is revamping its Directorate of Indigenisation for capability enhancement in areas such as indigenisation, upgrades, alternate solutions and research and development of spares and sub-systems.In an expression of interest (EoI) issued on October 20, the Indian Army has sought consultants to undertake a study for enhancing operational effectiveness and develop a future roadmap for the DoI.“While several indigenisation initiatives are currently underway across the existing ecosystem, there is a need for an integrated and future ready framework that aligns operational priorities with institutional mechanisms, governance structures, capability development, technology enablement and ecosystem collaboration,” the EoI states.“To achieve this, it is essential to access the current model and processes, benchmark leading practices, identify capability gaps and bottlenecks, and develop a comprehensive transformation strategy for the DoI under the Corps of EME,” the document adds.The programme aims to achieve “significant improvements” in successful indigenisation projects and reducing the import dependency, keeping in consideration the existing manpower and available resources.The Directorate of Indigenisation is responsible for indigenisation of weapons and equipment in the Army for revenue route and to assess the economic viability of indigenous manufacture of a defence items by the civilian sector in terms of volume, likelihood of future requirement, economies of scale, residual life of the equipment and a clear indication of requirement over a long period.The Dol was set up consequent to the transfer of responsibility of indigenisation from Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) to the Directorate General of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (DGEME). It was raised in 2010 under the direct technical and administrative control of DGEME at Army Headquarters.The charter of Dol is to carry out indigenisation of the imported stores, including those manufactured by Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), in the domains of armaments, vehicles, electrical and electronic items.Apart from the Army, the Navy and the Air Force also have their own departments for pursuing indigenous projects pertaining to their respective requirements for different types of equipment, sub-systems and spares, which are executed in collaboration with the public and private sector industry. DPSUs as well as the private industry also have a range of indigenous research and development projects.India’s annual defence production, according to the Ministry of Defence, surged to an all-time high of Rs 1.78 lakh crore in the 2025-26 financial year, representing a 15.6 per cent growth over the previous fiscal year’s output of Rs 1.54 lakh crore and a 110 per cent increase since 2020-21, when the figure was Rs 84,643 crore. In 2013-14, indigenous defence production was Rs 43,746 crore.The DPSUs and other PSUs accounted for approximately 76 per cent of the total production, while the private sector contributed 24 per cent. The share of the private sector was around Rs 42,000 crore in 2025-26.